Even the Eau de Toilette's bottle (left) is a diluted version of the Parfum (right)
I haven't done a perfume review in a while.
I recently went to The Bay to see what new scents are on the perfume stands. I saw La Petite Robe Noire, Eau de Toilette, and asked the saleswoman if I could smell it.
"It smells nothing like the original," I said.
"They're completely different scents," she said. "They don't make lighter versions of the EDP with the EDT. The add completely new ingredients."
That was news to me! Toilettes have always been a lower concentration of Parfums.
"If the EDP and the EDT are different, it just looks like a strategy to get women to buy the scent in its different forms." I replied.
She had no comment on that, possibly out of ignorance.
Here are the notes of the "new" La Petite Robe Noire, Eau de Toilette:
Top: Jasmine, Rose, "Green Notes"
Middle: Sour Cherry, Orange Blossom, Apple
Base: Patchouli, Amber, White Musk
In comparison, these are the notes for the original, Eau de Parfum:
Top Notes: Bergamot, Almond, Sour Cherry, Red Berries
Middle Notes: Rose, Licorice
Base Notes: Anise, Vanilla, Patchouli, Iris
The perfume blog Pop Sugar Beauty (formerly Bella Sugar, which I consider a reliable perfume review site) writes:
All the fragrance terms...are actually just designators for different dilutions of perfume oil.The Bay's shop woman is right. Guerlain has come up with different notes for its EDT and EDP for La Petite Robe Noire.
Eau de parfum/millésime/parfum de toilette
This is what most people consider "perfume," and it's the standard dilution level for women's fragrances, clocking in at between 10 and 20 percent oil (although almost always less than 15). EDPs tend to be the scents that are most noticeable to others, making them great for dates but not always optimal if you work in close quarters or spend a lot of time in the heat, which makes the smell even stronger.
Eau de toilette
These are your go-tos for warm weather or inoffensive everyday wear. They're usually less than 10 percent oil, although they can be anywhere from five to15, and they provide a lighter, slightly less complex scent than an EDP does. Fragrance counter people often position EDTs as "inferior" to EDPs, because they're lower priced, but that's simply not the case. They both have a function, and lots of scents are actually preferable in their EDT form. Don't let a sales pitch keep you from trying both, because the less expensive EDT could very well be a nicer fragrance. They're also a great "entry" to a scent; if you're not sure you'll adore a fragrance or it's a big investment, buy the EDT.
The EDT is an unattractive, bland scent. It is completely different from the original EDT. As I said to the saleswoman, this is just a marketing strategy from Guerlain. They can now sell two La Petite Robe Noire variations as two different perfumes. EDP and EDT owners will now want to own both.
Not me.
Here is what I wrote on La Petite Robe Noire (Eau De Parfum) in Camera Lucida on September 1, 2012:
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Guerlain's bottles for L'Heure Bleue
and La Petite Robe Noire
Guerlain, which houses my favorite perfume Shalimar (here's an article I wrote on Shalimar - Shalimar: Senses in a Bottle) has a perfume cutely titled La Petite Robe Noire, or LPRN, as the unromantic perfume saleswoman told me is the best way to remember it. What happened to knowing a little bit of French? Petite, robe, noire. Is that so hard to remember?
Of course La Petite Robe Noire is in reference to that cocktail dress which all fashionable women should have in their wardrobe.
Notes the Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire, Eau de Parfum:
Top Notes: Bergamot, Almond, Sour Cherry, Red Berries
Middle Notes: Rose, Licorice
Base Notes: Anise, Vanilla, Patchouli, Iris
It sounds like it should smell like candy, but it has the famous Guerlinade that is present in Shalimar. It is in fact a lighter version of Shalimar, and not at all juvenile fruity as the name suggests but a good blend of floral and fruity.
The bottle for La Petite Robe Noire is exactly the same as the 1912 L'Heure Bleue (re-instated in 2012 at its 100 year anniversary). La Petite Robe Noire's bottle, which comes in a deeper purple, could have done without the cute dress illustration and the scribbly script.
The Seine at L'Heure Bleue
Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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